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Water tickled their feet as Dylan kissed her. Before she realized it, he managed to finish undressing them both. The fact that they were outside completely naked about to make love should have bothered her, but it didn’t. Instead, she eagerly anticipated the joining of their bodies.
The lyrics of her favorite classic Bon Jovi hit “Bad Medicine” jarred Callie awake. Reaching for the cell phone, she switched off the alarm. “Eight o’clock already,” she groaned. Normally, she would consider eight late, but she had trouble sleeping the night before. Instead of falling asleep right away as she usually did, she stared at the ceiling for hours thinking about Dylan. She couldn’t figure him out no matter how hard she tried. When she’d finally fallen asleep, he’d invaded all her dreams. Her face burned at the memory of the dream her alarm had interrupted.
Despite the late start, she wasn’t going to waste the day in some motel room. According to the weather forecast, it was going to be a gorgeous day. A perfect day made for sightseeing and reading on the beach. Unfortunately, the water would still be a little too cold for a swim, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t enjoy the view. If her father felt well enough to fly and arrived in Newport, it’d be easy enough to change her plans and scoot over to Cliff House.
Armed with everything she’d need to spend time outdoors, Callie closed her motel room door behind her and headed toward her car. Popping open the trunk, she tossed in her bag and started to close it when she heard someone call out her name. She didn’t need to turn around to know who it was. Though they hadn’t spent that much time in each other’s company, his voice with its sexy English accent was permanently stored in her memory.
Waving to acknowledge she’d heard him, Callie leaned against her car, her arms by her sides, and watched Dylan approach. He moved with an athletic grace and carried himself in such a way that told the world he was confident and sure. Watching him approach made her pulse flutter.
Annoyed by her body’s reaction to him, Callie silently cursed herself for sleeping late. If she’d left even just a few minutes sooner, she would’ve been able to avoid seeing him this morning.
For the life of her, she couldn’t imagine why he was here. If Warren arrived at Cliff House, a phone call or a text message would’ve been sufficient. She’d given Dylan her cell phone number again for that very reason.
Had he lost her number and come to tell her Warren had arrived? Although possible, it didn’t make a lot of sense. He knew where she was staying and could have gotten in contact with her through the motel’s front desk.
Maybe he’d been on his way out of town and stopped by to tell her Warren wasn’t going to make it this weekend because he still didn’t feel well enough to travel. It was a reasonable explanation, Callie thought. It was a polite gesture, and so far, Dylan Talbot had acted the part of the polite gentleman. If that were the case, she’d spend her day sightseeing and leave first thing in the morning. It didn’t make sense to leave immediately just because things had not gone as planned.
Perhaps it was for the best if Warren wasn’t going to make it this weekend. Now that she was here, Callie didn’t know if she wanted to meet her father and the rest of his family just yet, especially if they were anything like Sara. Some extra time to consider things would be nice. She had felt a little pressured into this meeting in the first place.
But if you had to be pressured into anything, having Dylan Talbot do the pressuring certainly made it more enjoyable. He really was a sight to behold.
Back to Earth, Callie Taylor. He’s only here because of Warren. If it wasn’t for that connection, he’d never look twice at me. Don’t forget that.
Unexpected desire ripped through Dylan as he approached Callie. Instantly, an image of her sprawled out beneath him on the beach sprang to mind.
Back it up there. This is Warren’s daughter, remember.
Dylan slowed his pace and reined in his thoughts. Stay focused, he reminded himself. My job is to keep her company until Warren arrives. That doesn’t require getting naked and horizontal.
It would, hopefully, only be another day until his mother and Warren arrived. Once they got here, he could minimize the amount of time he spent with Callie. If he wanted to, he could arrange it so they were never in each other’s company again. That way he wouldn’t have to deal with this inconvenient desire that continued to plague him.
Assuming things did work out and she saw her father on a regular basis, Dylan didn’t need to be around. While he did try to see his family regularly, it would be simple enough to make certain his visits didn’t coincide with Callie’s.
Oddly, he didn’t like the thought of not seeing Callie again after this weekend. Now wasn’t the time to be wondering why though. Right now, he had a job to do, play host again in Warren’s absence.
“Warren called this morning. He said the doctors will let him fly tomorrow, so he and my mum should be here in the morning,” Dylan said after they exchanged greetings. “So I thought you might like to do some sightseeing today.”
“It’s on my list of things to do,” she answered, her voice friendly.
Before leaving Cliff House, he’d mentally mapped out an entire itinerary for their day. He liked to be prepared. Yet, if she wanted to see something specific, things could be changed.
“Good. I thought we could head over to Fort Adams first. Then stop at the Old Stone Mill before lunch if there’s time.” She mentioned during dinner how much she loved history, so he made sure to add some historical landmarks to their day.
Callie’s eyebrows knitted together. “We? Mr. Talbot, you don’t need to escort me around. I’m a big girl. I’ll be fine on my own.”
She was turning him down again? If he didn’t know better, he’d think she was playing hard to get.
Slightly exasperated, Dylan placed a hand on her shoulder. “Unless you want me to address you as Miss Taylor all the time, you need to stop calling me Mr. Talbot.”
A faint blush crept up her cheeks, making Callie appear much younger than her thirty-one years. “I’m familiar with the area, so I should be fine, Dylan.”
It was the first time since they’d met that she’d said his name. The sound of it on her lips made his heart skip a beat.
“You probably have things you want to do today. I promise not to get lost.”
Dylan took a few steps closer into her personal space. He could tell she felt a little uncomfortable, and knew he should keep more distance between them. Still he didn’t move. Instead, he searched her face for some hint of what she was really thinking. Perhaps she sensed his intentions because she quickly looked away when he made eye contact with her, but not before he saw the brief flash of desire in her eyes.
Maybe you haven’t completely lost your touch, Talbot.
